§ Mr. Ronald Brownasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has reviewed the operation of the office development control; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. CroslandYes. I have been considering the various responsibilities of my Department which concern in one way or another the regulation of the location of new commercial development whether for offices or shops. I have decided that a review should now be set in hand of the objectives of national policy in those fields and the ways of pursuing them. This will be a review conducted within Government, and it will take some time. I do not intend that it should hold up planning proposals coming to me for decision. Various organisational changes have been made within the Department to carry the review forward and I am examining ways in which additional advice can be made available to the Department.
I expect that this review will help in determining future operation of the control of office development. Meanwhile the control will be applied strictly, and
1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 Three-Wheelers Accidents in year ending 30th September … 5,094 4,687 4,883 4,914 On issue at 31st March … 18,304 18,836 18,472 18,835 Cars Accidents in year ending 30th September … 2,067 1,946 1,700 1,577 On issue at 31st March … 6,680 7,061 7,014 7,652 Figures for the years 1969–70 and 1970–71 are for England and Wales and for 1971–72 and 1972–73 for England only.
The numbers of three-wheelers on issue exclude a reserve fleet of about 2,000 vehicles. The records do not identify separately road traffic accidents.